A Quiet Retreat
by Saint Miroku
Summary: Feeling very overwhelmed by a lot of sudden changes, Botan decides to head for Genkai's Temple in order to get her thoughts in order. When she arrives, she finds that Kurama has also decided to stay at the temple, also debating what course of action to take next. A Kurama X Botan one shot. What have I done? Also, happy St. Patrick's Day!


Botan sighed as she walked up the many steps leading to Genkai's Temple. Ever since the situation in the Demon Realm had come to an end, she'd been in a bit of a lull. The past few days had seen unprecedented change Yusuke was no longer a detective, the Demon Realm had become some sort of pseudo democratic state, and she really didn't know what to do. She figured that she'd come to the Temple to look after it for a little while, and hopefully, a long period of peace and quiet would help her figure out where to go from here. When she finally reached the entrance to the temple, she stood there for a second, letting the the cool breeze brush against her face as she heard a set of wind chimes let out their calming melody in the distance. After that brief pause, she opened the door and to her surprise, she saw Kurama, sitting in the corner of the room, quietly reading a book.

When she first caught sight of him, she couldn't help but feel her heart beat faster and faster. She'd always found him attractive and liked his personality, but up until now, she'd never really felt like this before (likely because of everything that had been going on before).

"Oh Botan, what are you doing here?" Kurama asked, snapping her back to reality.

"Me, I just didn't have anything to else to do and decided to come up here for some fresh air," Botan replied, trying to hide the fact that she'd been starring earlier. "I honestly didn't expect to find anyone else here."

"Yeah well, I also felt like I needed some fresh air, besides, I've had a lot on my mind lately."

"What is it, are you okay?" Botan asked, moving closer before sitting down beside him.

"Yeah, I'm fine, it's just with everything that's happened, I've been reconsidering a lot lately." he replied.

"Like what?"

"Well, when I Yomi roped me back into the Demon Realm, I found myself wanting to come back here more and more. You see, I've really come to love this world and my family, and I don't ever want to put that at risk again, and I think the best way to do that may be to give up on my demonic side for good."

"That sounds crazy!" Botan replied in shock.

"That's the thing, on the one hand, if I give up on being a demon, I think it would prevent something like this from happening again, but at the same time, I have no idea how that would affect me, and it's not like I could go back after that."

Botan placed her hand on his shoulder, "I really don't think you should do it. Your demon side is part of what makes you you, and I don't think your family would want to see you change like that. Besides, what if something terrible happens and you have to protect them, that would certainly be a lot easier if you had access to all your powers."

After a short pause, Kurama spoke, "I hadn't thought of it like that, but you're right. I lived in the Human Realm peacefully for years before mom got sick, I guess I doesn't really matter if I'm a demon or not, just as long as I'm still Minamino."

"Of course, we've always been your friends, it doesn't matter if you're human or not, the feelings I have for you aren-" Botan stopped herself short, realizing what she was about to say."

"What was that?"

"Well, it's just that I..." Botan paused for a moment to consider her options. After a lot of thinking, she decided that she was just going to go for it, if Kurama was willing to be so open with her, she could at least repay the favor. "The truth is that I... well... I love you! I don't care whether your a human or a demon, deep down in my heart, I know that you're the one I want to be with."

There was a brief silence before Kurama suddenly began to chuckle softly, "Well, the topic sure changed quickly. One minute I'm talking about throwing away my demonic side, and then you start confessing to me."

"I'm sorry, I just kind of blurted that out!" Botan said, looking down and blushing intensely.

In response, Kurama suddenly lifted her chin up before leaning forward and locking lips with the reaper. Their kiss lasted for sometime (though Botan wished it could have lasted forever) before Kurama broke from it.

"The truth is, I've always had feelings for you too, it's just that I didn't think you'd ever feel the same way." he said, a smile forming across his face.

"You idiot, you really should have said something sooner!" Botan replied, wiping away tears of joy.

"Sorry, I just figured it wasn't worth it with everything else that was going on before."

"Well, you can make it up to me now," Botan said, leaning in for another kiss. Kurama obliged, and the two were locked in a tight embrace once again. This continued until the two heard the sound of someone clearing their throat right behind them.

"I still live here you know, I'm not actually dead yet." Genkai said with her signature croak.

"Genkai I um..." Botan tried to reply, flustered.

"Never mind, I just want you two to stay alert for now, you never know what could show up. Besides, you two should have plenty of time for stuff like this later tonight." Genkai said, a devious smile forming across her face with that last line.

"Genkai!" Botan replied, even more flustered from Genkai's implications. Kurama for his part, couldn't help but laugh softly again. Botan sighed, it looks as though her quiet retreat just got a lot more interesting.


End file.
